Council Rejects Glades Tourism Money

A plan crafted by Charles Lehmann, the County Tourist Development Council's executive director, would cost $30,000 to implement, less if other counties rimming Lake Okeechobee embrace it.

A week after a major employer rocked the Glades area by announcing it is shutting down, the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council on Thursday decided against spending any of its $8.4 million budget to help create jobs in the poverty-ravaged area.

"I hate to see us get ... wrapped up in something that has limited potential," council member Bill Upshaw said.

County Commission Chairman Mary McCarty, who also is head of the tourism council, said Lake Okeechobee is a mecca for bass anglers. The tourism council could help expand that allure and attract scores of people who like rustic vacations, she said.

"The lake is a diamond in the rough. It's not like the coast," she said. "It's a place where you take your mountain bike and fishing pole. We could make it an eco-tourism mecca worldwide."

McCarty said the council wasn't being asked to spend large amounts of money.

A plan crafted by Charles Lehmann, the council's executive director, would cost $30,000 to implement, less if other counties rimming the lake embrace it.

John Temple, a council member who manages the Boca Hotel and Club, said the problems in the Glades aren't the tourism council's concern.

"That's an economic development problem out there," he said.

The council has its hands full promoting tourism along the coast, Temple said.

"We're losing ground," he said, pointing to figures that show tourist tax collections are down from last year. "I'm getting concerned that we're getting diluted. There's a limit to how much time and effort we should spend out there."

The only major expense in Lehmann's plan was a request that the council pay half of the salary of an economic marketing expert who would devise a plan detailing what it would take to lure tourists to the area. Cities in the area - South Bay, Belle Glade and Pahokee - could be asked to pay the other half.

Despite McCarty's prodding, council members said they didn't want any of the money generated from a 4 percent tax on hotel rooms to be touched.

Lehmann was told he could conduct a seminar on how to establish bed and breakfasts. He also got the go-ahead to attend meetings of a recently formed group trying to promote tourism in eight counties near the lake.

Glades-area officials, who are still reeling from last week's announcement by South Bay Growers that will leave 1,300 people jobless, said they were dismayed by the council's action.

"They ought to be bending over backwards to help us instead of just spending all their money along the coast," South Bay City Manager Lester Baird said.

"Clearly, our area would very much like to develop a tourism industry. If we could get a plan we could rally around and show people we're serious about tourism, I can't help but think it would help."

McCarty said Lehmann can do further research. If he can come up with a plan, the tourism council may reconsider its decision. Or, she said, while discussing the issue on Sept. 27, the County Commission could decide to use general tax money to promote tourism in the area.